Ground Rising with a Serpent
by Fearless58
Summary: The Kane siblings and the Camp Half-Blood demigods  sadly, still without Percy  were living quite peacefully and getting ready for their respective quests until Gaea and Apophis suddenly decided to ally each other.
1. A Visit by the God of Toilet Paper

**Ground Rising With a Serpent**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything here, all rights go to Rick Riordan. I only own the idea.**

**Summary: **The Kane siblings and the Camp Half-Blood demigods (sadly, still **sans** Percy) were living quite peacefully and getting ready for their respective quests until Gaea and Apophis suddenly decided to ally each other. Now, with their own problems to handle and **one bigger threat** to put down, they will have to combine forces to put out this raging flame. One question, though: Would they **cooperate** with each other, or **have another war** they'd have to stop?

**-  
>S<strong>  
><strong>A<strong>  
><strong>D<strong>  
><strong>I<strong>  
><strong>E<strong>  
><strong>-<strong>

Hey! Sadie here! It's been a short while since I've used this recorder. For me, it's just a plain old story-teller filled with stories and, of course, hmm… _adventures?_ [Yes, that was stupid. Now, would you just keep quiet?] Recently, something, um… _surprising_,just happened and shocked me, and I think [Shut it.] it deserves a recording.

So it was kind of a drizzly evening here at Brooklyn House; it's been a year since Apophis was beaten by me and my brother, Carter, and we're living quite peacefully here since that incident. However, some fools from the House of Life still doesn't bother to stop chasing us, from Paris to Brooklyn; they've wanted to kill Carter and me, because we're hosting Horus and Isis, respectively, two of the gods and goddesses of Egyptian mythology. Oh, I forgot. We _hosted _them, and Uncle Amos is Chief Lector. But there _are _still some madmen out there waiting to kill us.

Anyway, let's go back to the story. So we were in the Great Room watching TV with Khufu busy watching ESPN with Carter while eating Cheetos. Usually, he'd eat _anything_ that ends with O, [For just one time, can't you have a nice bowl of something better! And stop throwing dates at me!] but for him, Cheetos, as said in _previous _recordings, is just a plural form of "Cheeto", same with Cherrios, and _et cetera_. So, as I said, he was busy watching basketball in ESPN with Carter while eating Cheetos until his fingers turned orange. Then he (because of something; I can't remember) jumped on the sofa like a deranged chimpanzee, showing off his Technicolor bum. _Some monkey instincts_, I thought. While he was jumping, Carter was holding to a pack of Cheetos himself and clinging to the sofa for dear life. Okay, I might be exaggerating, but that's what I saw with my own eyes. I was quietly laughing by that time.

"It's kind of strange to me that he has a sort-of addiction to Cheetos, don't you think that?" I asked Carter. Then, I noticed that my usual British accent was not that recogni_z_able anymore. Gods, a year in the U.S. can change a person, eh?

"No, I don't. I can even say that I have a slight craving over it." He replied with a bit of cheese powder in the side of his mouth. Ha!

"Having a Cheetos-eating contest with the baboon, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not!" Carter replied. His mouth was full of the snack and he apparently was caught by my question. "I'm just busy eating Cheetos until I stuff my mouth with it."

"Both of you are impossible." I groaned. "If any of you need me, I'll be in my room." The two grunted in agreement.

So I was inside my room. It was really nice, you know. A kitchenette, a bathroom that knows you, [I'm not kidding. Don't laugh.] And the TV, stereo system, and computer were so high-tech! Much like Carter's [Why should I be jealous? I've got a room of my own! And please, shut up! Sheesh. Brothers.] I was in my kitchenette, making a grilled cheese sandwich for _moi_. Oh, how I miss the way Bast makes them. They're pretty much the same ingredients, but there's something about her sandwiches that makes it, um… _uniquely tasty_. Suddenly, I heard a loud, cracking noise from outside. Streaks of lightning lightened up the night sky. The lights unexpectedly flickered on and off for the next two seconds. I looked at the window and what I saw was my window being attacked by blizzard-like rain. Whoa. _That's a rainstorm_, I thought. Now, after I was done making it, I slumped on my bed and watched TV while eating the sandwich I made. _Ah_,_ there's nothing greater to do in a rainy evening_ _than to slump on your bed while watching one of your __favourite__ TV shows and eating a grilled cheese sandwich! _

_Oh, what would I do today if I was still in London? _I thought to myself. _Maybe I would still be in my flat, having supper with Gran and Gramps, while watching TV._

_But, it's worse than being chased by the House of Life_, Isis replied.

_Well, yeah. Wait, weren't you supposed to be out of my head?_

_Well, I just decided to give you a short visit. _She laughed briefly, and then turned to a cold mood.

_Okay? _I was confused.

Then, she instantly disappeared. No sign of a goddess with wings. Well, it might be _duty calls _time for her. [What part of "shut up" do you not understand, pancake nub? Oh, and besides, that part's still far.] I finished my sandwich and was about to turn off the TV, when I heard something bang my closet. No, not from outside, but from, strangely, inside. I stood up, and went to get the nearest thing I saw. _Oh look! A chair! _I thought, hilariously excited. I laughed at myself silently. I got it very quickly and went near the closet, ready to beat the pulp out of that "_creature_" or whatever it was. I opened the closet and I was entirely surprised. A 5'11" linen-covered monster or ghost or whatever-it-was just sprang up from the closet. I took the chair and struck him the back. The guy howled like a dog in pain and collapsed on the floor, while my hands hurt of gripping the chair hard.

"Lady Kane!" the "creature's" muffled voice rang through the sheets.

"Who are you?" I asked anxiously.

"Are you saying you don't know me?" Now, I was confused. _No one_ calls me Lady Kane besides Anubis. _Wait a— Oh, no_, I thought, worried of who I might've hit. I took off the linen sheets and clothing and… I was totally embarrassed, shocked, and worried. I just whacked Anubis by the back! _My gods! I just… just! _ I simply gasped in shock, and no words came out from me. Slowly, Anubis stood up supporting his pained back.

"What was that for?" Anubis yelled. He then groaned softly trying to walk towards the nearest chair. I simply shrunk down in embarrassment and worry.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know it was you!" I replied, trying to keep myself from having either a nervous breakdown or a yelling fit.

"Well, next time, please, Lady Kane, try to ask who it is before you hit him or her! Or _it_."

"Why! For all the parts of this house you can enter, why did you choose the bloody closet?" Okay. I did go to a yelling fit. I was surprised or angry or concerned, or all of the above. If he didn't land in the closet, then I wouldn't have hit him with a chair on the back! I was worried. Well, of course, I was concerned! Okay. I was done worrying and busy being curious-slash-amazed. He wasn't supporting his back anymore, so I thought at the time, the pain in him subsided.

"I had exactly no idea; I was supposed to land in the kitchenette there." Who knew he's sometimes not that good in portals? [Ha-ha.] He continued, "Besides, I came here for you."

"What? You came… for _me_?" That came out from nowhere. I was in a loss for words.

"Well, yes."

"Oh. So, are we going somewhere?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"You'll see," he replied with a sly grin. He opened a portal by the floor; if I wasn't under these _circumstances_ by then, I'd think I'll fall onto the Great Room. But I didn't. We were in the same cemetery south of Canary Wharf station where we- er… kissed. I don't regularly admit this, but my cheeks flush hot red whenever I remember that. Well, memories. They come, they go. They make you blush and go crazy; they also leave you fuming and angry. That's what I experienced when we kissed. Wait. Oi, don't get any other ideas.

"Why are we here?" I asked him, surprised.

"I had to tell you something."

"Now, what is it? You can just shoot it to me." Anubis sighed.

"Okay?" he cleared his throat, "It's in good/bad news format."

"Okay."

"Good news: Everything's wonderfully fine. The House of Life finally stopped chasing you two, and, um… "

"I know. Now, with Uncle Amos as Chief Lector, he has enough power to stop those stupid imbeciles from chasing us."

"Yeah," Anubis nodded slowly. "Bad news, however… Apophis is escaping."

Had I been drinking, I would've spit-took Anubis.

"What!" I shouted, quite enough to attract some bystanders.

"Shh!" Anubis silenced me, while putting a finger on his mouth.

"What?" I repeated, but it was more of a whisper.

"Yes."

"But how?" I then asked.

"He found a flaw." Anubis said with a grim expression on his face.

"Does this have something to do with Bast?"

"No," Anubis replied "It has something to do with another pantheon of gods."

"Pantheon? What's-"

"A pantheon is a group of gods."

"Oh." I tried to sit down on the ground, but I noticed I was no longer in the cemetery. I was in the Duat.

"What pantheon?"

Anubis raised an eyebrow "Surely, you do know, don't you?"

"Nope," I replied, making a _pop_ sound on the last part.

"Do you know about the Greek gods?"

"You mean those gods we had to learn during stupid History class? Those gods? Zeus, Hera, Poseidon-"

"Yes."

Oh. How's that a flaw in Apophis's prison?" I asked, ready for mental jotting

"Apparently, Gaea, or Mother Earth, as the Greeks call it, is rising. She is the mother of Greek chaos. However, she was defeated by three demigods - before you ask, demigods are people who are half-mortal, half-god – anyways, Gaea is rising again, and she needs to be reinforced with something more foreign… Someone, the Greek gods themselves can't defeat."

"Shoot." This Gaea person has a wicked mind.

"Which means, in other hands, Apophis has everything in Gaea's checklist."

"Which are?"

"1) Apophis is a foreign -foreign, by the term that the serpent comes from Egypt- element of chaos. 2) They both have that same desire for destruction, chaos, and 3) That serpent can deceive anyone, even the gods."

"Double shoot." The more I heard about Gaea, the more I'm feeling grateful for those three demigods or whatever you call them. Well, we had a lot more to do.

"Um… where are the Greek gods?" Anubis then sighed.

"I thought you'd know."

_-~Flashback~- (__A/N: An excerpt from the book but from a different P.O.V. and different content__)_

_Amos knit his eyebrows as he looked at the Empire State Building. "Manhattan has other problems. Other gods. It's best we stay separate._

_Other gods? Wha? "Other _what_?"_

"_Nothing."_

_-~End Flashback~-_

"Oy. You mean they were in Manhattan all along?"

"Mm-hm." Anubis nodded. "600th floor of the Empire State Building."

I snickered. Then, I couldn't take it. I laughed hard. These were too nonsensical to believe.

"What's so funny?"

I kept laughing. "Do you think I'd believe you?"

"Why? Are you that skeptical to believe even the simplest fact?" he then retorted. I stopped laughing, and put on a straight face.

"Oh, so are you implying I'm stupid enough to believe this… this 'fact'?" I countered, putting on air quotes on the last part. It didn't make him any more cheery.

"Fine, be that way." Anubis then started to turn to mist. "Be ready for a big visit. Good luck putting all these in." He then gave me a mental message.

_Are you that stupidly skeptical? I'm giving you important news about the two main players in this game of chaos that would serve as the cause of lots of damage to all of us, yet you dismiss it like the laughingstock of the day? _He then completely disappeared. I silently cursed myself for acting that… that stupid. I then slowly turned to mist and got back to my room.

Now, I was serious.

I got out the room and quickly darted down the stairs.

"Carter!"

"What?"

"I have news. And it ain't that good."

Now, all I was left to wonder was… what _was _that visit Anubis was talking about?

* * *

><p>AN: Please R&R this, pretty please... I will update soon if you do. :D

Love,

Fearless58


	2. News in the Big House

****Ground Rising With a Serpent****

**Summary: **The 21st Nome, and Camp Half-Blood (sadly, still **sans** Percy), were living quite peacefully and getting ready for their respective quests until Gaea and Apophis suddenly decided to ally each other. Now, with their own problems to handle and **one bigger threat** to put down, they will have to combine forces to put out this raging flame. One question, though: Would they **cooperate** with each other, or **have another war** against each other that they'd have to stop?

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything here, all rights go to Rick Riordan. I only own the idea.**_

* * *

><p><strong>II<strong>_**  
><strong>_**-  
>ANNABETH<br>-**

**_News in the Big House  
><em>  
><strong>

**IT'S BEEN ALMOST EIGHT MONTHS SINCE PERCY WAS EXCHANGED WITH JASON BY HERA.** The Argo II, which has been under construction for almost eight months, has been finally finished. Everyone in camp had been so excited to see it fully functional. Well, she could admit that she would be also ecstatic in seeing it finally complete. For her, the ship's completion meant that they were one step closer to uniting the Greeks and Romans, and _hopefully_…

They'll finally find Percy.

Camp has never been the same without him. The Poseidon cabin somewhat turned eerily silent during his absence. The atmosphere around camp turned slightly dark. She wouldn't blame them, of course. They lost their best friend in a blink of an eye. Well, he was more than a best friend to others.

But we already know that, do we?

Annabeth was doing an inspection on the deck of the ship, while Leo was busy testing the engine. She then went towards the hull and checked it for any defects. After looking at it for a few seconds, she brought up her clipboard to eye level. She clicked her pen and began to write on her checklist. She was about to walk towards the bridge when she faced another girl unexpectedly. She let out a shriek of surprise, but thank the gods, it wasn't that loud to alarm the others.

"Thalia," Annabeth started. "What now? I thought you were with the Hunters in… where are the Hunters, anyway?" Thalia walked towards her.

"In Utah; to answer the question before that, Chiron needs both of us at the Big House, _pronto_." She started to walk away, thinking Annabeth would follow her. Thalia looked back at her. Annabeth was giving her a look that said, _What about this?_

"It can wait later. Now, come on!"

"Look, I was given this task. Can this wait la-" Thalia cut her off by grabbing her to starboard, towards the ship's walking plank/exit*****. They then ran towards the Big House as fast as they could. They could walk there, of course, but it would take so much time.

Finally, they arrived at the Big House at the point of panting. At the porch, Chiron looked at them from his wheelchair form with slight amusement. His millennial eyes, despite the amused look on his face, looked anxious. "Come," he continued, gesturing for them to come inside. They then sat on the living room couches facing the fireplace.

"So," Annabeth started. "Why did you want us to be here in the first place?"

Chiron took a breath before asking, "Do you know about the Egyptian pantheon?"

"Yes," she answered. "Why?"

"Straight to the point, my child. Anyway, it is because news has arrived recently from a source."

"What news?" the girls both asked.

"Apophis has allied himself with Gaea."

A pause ensued for a few moments, before Thalia broke it, saying, "Who in Hades is Apophis?"

_Apophis… Apophis… Apop… Apep!_

Annabeth then answered, "Apophis was –I mean, is– the Egyptian embodiment of chaos. He was a represented as a huge snake and the goddess Bast had to fight him every day and night, right?"

Chiron nodded. "And now, he is out of his prison."

"What… do you mean?" she inquired, cocking her head.

"He is already out from the prison where Bast had to fight him, and now, he has allied himself with Gaea."

"Alright," Thalia broke in. "That's another to the list, right?"

"What list?" Annabeth asked.

"You know... The _List of Villains Who Might/May/Do Need Butt-kicking_?"

"O-oh. Well... yeah."

"Well then, let's get to the point shall we?" Chiron responded. "He is remarkably strong; his strength almost equals to that of Gaea herself."

"And we're supposed to defeat both of them?" Thalia questioned. "We already couldn't defeat Gaea within a single battle, what more if another came in?"

"Actually, help _will_ be given."

"What do you mean?" Annabeth inquired. As if someone else could help them! The Romans held high suspicion with the _graecis_, as they called the Greeks; and as far as she knew, there were _no _Egyptian demigods in existence (well, by some _miracle_, it might happen, but she knew miracles don't happen).

Chiron answered, "I think you have to know it on your own. Sadly, I have not been entrusted with that kind of information. All I can offer you is this." He then got a piece of paper from under his wheelchair and gave it to Annabeth. She looked at the piece of paper. It was a map of New York (mainly Manhattan and Brooklyn), with an X to mark a place just by the exit of the Brooklyn Bridge. The name of the place was also there, but she couldn't actually decipher it since it was in English. The words formed an incoherent jumble of letters:**_ BYRKOLON HUSOE_**, but she was sure it was written as "**_BROOKLYN HOUSE_**".

Thalia peered in and asked, "So what? We're just gonna go to this place and ask for help?"

"Basically, yes, but we cannot be sure about the possible obstacles in this journey of yours."

"Has there been any demigod journey that's not dangerous?" Annabeth asked jokingly. The others let out a chuckle.

Chiron straightened his posture, before concluding, "Well, I can only wish you two the best. May the gods bless you."

"Thank you," the girls returned in unison, leaving for the door.

As they were walking, Thalia asked, "Do we still need to pack up some things?"

Annabeth pondered about it for a moment, before answering, "Yeah. Zeus knows what we may meet along the way."

Thunder rumbled.

"Scratch that. He also doesn't know."

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><p><strong>*I don't really know what to call it.<strong>

**A/N:** I hoped you loved/liked the second chapter! Merry Christmas! :)

**Love, Fearless58**


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